Staunton spectator. [volume] (Staunton, Va.) 1849-1896, 1887-07-20
Death of Ezra whitman, of baltimore
HIS CONNECTION WITH THE GRAIN-REAPER
AND PLoW HISTORY.

| HIS CONNECTION WITH THE GRAIN-REAPEI
AND PLow HISTORY.
The Baltimore Sun of the 18th instant fur.
nishes an interesting sketch of the life of Mr.
Ezra Whitman, who died in that city, the day
previous in the 10Th year of hisage Mr. Whit.
man edited the Maryland Farmer, and. since
| 1913 had been connected with the business OF
Baltimore as a manufacturer OF agricultural
implements. etc., and was esteemed among the
| most valuable and progressive men OF MS city.
He was native of Massachusetts,. ana when
young developed inventive talents and became
machinist, establishing himself front In busi-
ness as manufacturer In Maine. The follow
ing is extracted from the article in the Sun:
mr. Whitman's attention was especf38y di-
rected towards the construction OF Nn49ne
for reaping and moving, though at that tine
the idea of cutting grain and grass by machin-
cry was thought impracticable. his iatner's
ingenuity as machinist having been employ
ed for several years upon model reaper, which
he SO far perfected to satisfy himsel1 tnat the
probe was practicable and would soon }tt, pc q
success, Mr.. Whitman in connection Win MIN
and the late Mr.. Thos. White, who alterwards
established large machine shops at YORK, Pa,
began the construction of a full size tWo-horse
machine, which is believed to have been the
first reaper and mower ever made. IL was be-
gun in 1924. but not finished until 1907, ana
though in some respects defective, IL more IMAM
met the expectations of its projectors, ana
solved the problem of cutting grain py ma
chinery, and thus prepared the way 1oT cn1 per-
feet m mechanism of the present time. Mr. w nit
man continued his Improvements ~ aslicui-
tural implements and secured several valuable
and important advantages which are now IN
general use. Finding but little demand In
Maine for his implements, Mr.. hitman re-
solved to seek locality where agriculture was
more largely prosecuted, SO as to- brlng ms In
ventions into more general use. He therefore
moved to Baltimore in 1S43 and commenced
their manufacture by steam power; Az Lnat
time farming implements in Maryland were
extremely primitive. and Mr.. Wh1tmanS came
rapidly into use. He substituted machinery
for hand work in the manufacture of his i'm
plements, and thereby reduced the cost, He
built the first establishment for the manuiac-
ture of plOws south of Mason and D1xons line.
lished warehouse for the sale of agricultural
implements and seeds and fertilizers, winch
becanls widely known"
The history of the grain reaper. as we have IL
in Virginia. is different from the above. espe-
cially as 1.-The problem was solved of cutting
grain by machinery was the way prepared for
the perfect mechanism of the present time"
All who had endeavored to invent success
full reaper, including Mr.. Mccormick, had the
sickle made like knife blade. They were sue
cessful SO to speak, but not satisfactory as was
the case with McCormick's machine, which
was tested at Lexington. Va, IN 1881. SO faf
then he was in advance of Mr.. Whitman as ne
was Of Hussey. 1t would seem that all the otn-
ct luNeStCrS were O]ScOurdSeu DtCduSo thSJ
Jailed in the sickle. 1t was not SO with McCor-
mick, for he did not abandon his enterprise;
on the contrary he invented the serrated sickle
and applied 1t to his own machine, and to him
should be awarded the credit ofhaving not only
inventng the perfect mechanism, but prepared
the way for the progress which followed. The
serrated sickle is the one part of the reaper
which made the success complete, and the prin-
ri in 1uad
never been improved upon. Hussey had at
tanned to it in part by his invention, but never
80 completely as Mccormick did.
1t was not, however, SO much in reference to
the reaper as it was to the enterprise and the
men who first manufactured plows South of
"Mason's and Dixon's" line that it has been
deemed proper to make these comments.
Real and far-reaching pillow manufacturing
enterprises were established in Virginia in
1912 when the Livingston then COM
pete, and for many years thereafter the most
advanced iron turning pillow known, was in
PRODUCED. This pillow was invented about 1928
by man named Wizard, of Livingston county,
New York, hence its name. Sidney and B. F.
Avery, brothers and natives of the interior of
the State of New York, established a foundry
and shops for making the Livingston" plow,
first in Mecklenburg county. Va. in $780, and
in 1892 on the South River. in Rockbridge
county. They put up another large establish
ment few miles below Versuvius furnace,
then in full blast. They brought with them to
the RocKbridge faclory young man named
Schuyler Bradley who succeeded to the bust
ness, and he was succeeded ;by Hugh F. Lyle
& Co., who are still conducting the business
near Vesuvius, The Averys went West, B.
Avery establishing himself in Louisville. KY,
at the head of large agricultural implement
concern which is now conducted by his sons.
He died few years since.
The establishment which was the
mouth of South River, in Rockbridge, as sta
ted, became the property of Bradley, and was
swept away by the great flood in the Summer
of 1872 Immediately after the disaster he re-
placed it at Vesuvius where as stated it has
continued one of our prosperous industrial en-
terprises Of the Valley.
Mr.. Bradley returned to New York in 1852,
locating in Syracuse, and prosperously con-
Quoting the implement business. He died
there 9th of July 1885, in the 10Th year of his
age. There as in Virginia. he was known and
esteemed most highly. There as here he was
leading member of the Presbyterian church,
noted for his generous contributions to the
church, and in kind and generous acts to his
fe!low-men.